{"id":99514,"date":"2025-08-01T15:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=99514"},"modified":"2025-08-01T15:00:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:00:44","slug":"operation-dudulas-education-campaign-triggers-alarm-over-xenophobia-and-rights-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/operation-dudulas-education-campaign-triggers-alarm-over-xenophobia-and-rights-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Dudula\u2019s Education Campaign Triggers Alarm Over Xenophobia and Rights Violations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n01 August 2025 | 08:30 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8Photo Credit: Daily Maverick<\/p><\/div>\n

Operation Dudula is once again under fire following its December campaign that targets undocumented foreign nationals in public schools. The organisation claims to be defending South African learners, but critics warn the move may dangerously inflame xenophobia and undermine the Constitution\u2019s protection of basic education for all children.<\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with Radio Islam<\/a>,<\/em> Zandile Dabula, president of Operation Dudula, explained the rationale behind the campaign: \u201cWe want South African children to be prioritized. We will not have a learner that will not be admitted at the school because of illegal foreigners.\u201d Dabula argued that overcrowding in public schools is largely due to the admission of foreign learners, forcing local children to attend schools far from home.<\/p>\n

Citing reports from educators, she added, \u201cOne teacher said to us that \u2018I have 70 kids in my class. I can’t focus. There\u2019s no quality work in that.\u2019\u201d Operation Dudula claims this campaign will ease classroom overcrowding and support unemployed South African teachers.<\/p>\n

However, the campaign has sparked widespread concern. Legal experts and civil society groups have cautioned that such actions may breach the South African Constitution, which enshrines the right to basic education for \u201ceveryone,\u201d regardless of nationality or documentation status. Critics argue that forcibly excluding undocumented children could violate both domestic law and international human rights obligations.<\/p>\n

Dabula dismissed these claims, asserting: \u201cThe Constitution of South Africa covers South Africans. If you’re here illegally, then you\u2019re not supposed to have a right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Operation Dudula\u2019s failure to engage constructively with the Department of Basic Education has drawn criticism. \u201cWe\u2019ve marched to various departments and we don\u2019t get responses,\u201d Dabula said, expressing frustration over what she sees as a lack of political will to resolve immigration issues.<\/p>\n

Despite growing tensions, Dabula insisted the movement is patriotic, not xenophobic: \u201cLet\u2019s not call it just taking laws into our own hands. Let us rather call it patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the campaign gains momentum, human rights organisations warn of a \u201cticking time bomb\u201d of social division, urging the government to intervene before the situation escalates further.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Shuaib Lasanya and Zandile Dabula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 01 August 2025 | 08:30 CAT Operation Dudula is once again under fire following its December campaign that targets undocumented foreign nationals in public schools. The organisation claims to be defending South African learners, but critics warn the move may dangerously inflame xenophobia and undermine the Constitution\u2019s protection of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":99515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dudula.jpg?fit=391%2C390&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pT4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 12:08:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}